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November 2019

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Companies Leading Cloud Technology Revolution, 2019 Editorâ€™s Desk

Secure Vision

Preksha Kaparwan

Role of Businesses in Climate Change

Should Businesses Adopt Blockchain Technology?

The Fuss about AI

EDITOR’S NOTE Future of Digitization!

e live in a digital era, where technology is not only an industrial aspect but a part of every human life. Look around you, we are all surrounded by immense transitions of transmitted frequencies which are no visible to naked eye. Thus, we collectively can phrase that, we are more integrated into technology instead, it been integrated in our lives. One of the greatest invention-cum-discovery, ever extracted from this ever-evolving technology is “Cloud Computing”. Prior to its inception, none ever imagined that such an advancement would implicate to increase the efficiency in various industries as well as in to daily human lives. For the past decade, cloud computing has evolved from an advanced innovation to technological lifeblood that runs through most modern enterprises. Still, there is a lot of fuss about cloud computing and a critical question always arises, why do we need cloud computing? And the answer is the technology is not just concerned with businesses, it is also useful for the human mankind as well. Cloud computing has seen the fastest adoption into the mainstream than any other technology in the domain and this adoption has been charged by the ever-increasing number of smart devices that can access the internet. For businesses, cloud computing offers access of applications and data from any remote location and from any device with an internet connection. Accessibility is just one form of its benefits, while the other pros include cost savings, security, efficiency, and disaster recovery.

Companies Leading the

Cloud Technology Revoloution

2019 Cloud computing is a 21st-century technological wonder that holds its importance in almost every field one can think of. Every emerging new technology will be supported by cloud computing whether it be autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, digital first infrastructure or using robots in manufacturing. With an intent to emphasize advancement of cloud technology and its never ending utility, CIO Look has enlisted some potential companies in the issue, “Companies Leading the Cloud Technology Revolution 2019”. These leading companies are taking cloud technology to the next level with their exemplary cloud solutions, business competencies, and technical knowhow. Let’s unveil such alike, inspiring interviews and stories of many such significant organizations in this special edition and spread a word about their contribution in making this world a better place. Also, flip through the CXO standpoints presented by some of the leading industry experts to taste the glimpse of industrial revolutions. Enjoy the read…!

Bhushan Ghate

10 20

20 12

18 20

26 20

20 30

34 20

20 36

20 40

Muggie van Staden: Open Source Trends To Watch For 2019

Big Bang: Integrating Tech for the Better Good

IT-CNP, Inc.: A Prominent Cloud Service Provider

Nippon Data Systems Ltd.: The Go to Partner for All IT Business Solutions

SoftClouds LLC: Predicting the Future of CRM!

Preksha Kaparwan: The Fuss about AI

ViBiCloud (PT. Awan Integrasi Sandidata): Your Trusted Technology Partner to Accelerate Your Cloud Economics Journey

ZeroLight: Pioneering a New Era in the Digitisation of Customer Experiences

IN THIS ISSUE Articles 16

Editorâ€™s Desk Role of Businesses in Climate Change

Secure Vision Should Businesses Adopt Blockchain Technology?

K. Roy Editor-in-Chief

CONTENT

Senior Editor Alan Swann Managing Editor Bhushan Ghate Executive Editors Sourabh More

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| November2018 |

Muggie van Staden

ollowing several mergers and acquisition this year, 2019 will see open source investments starting to pay even more dividends. Given how it has become the driving force behind much of the world’s cloud-based systems, companies need to keep a close eye on the open source trends that could impact their strategies for the months to come.

Providing even more impetus for this is the recent launch of what many consider to be South Africa’s ﬁrst truly digital bank. Focusing on ‘behavioral’ banking, all its systems are cloud-based highlighting the security, availability, and redundancy of going this route. Moreover, it is built on open standards all but giving the death knell to those who think proprietary is still the preferred method of doing business.

With deals such as Microsoft and Github as well IBM and Red Hat, this open source-driven environment will see organizations in a position to take the best aspects of these businesses and come up with something truly great. Thanks to the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the resultant explosion in data points, companies understand that they need the resources of cloud-based systems to extract the most relevant insights.

Next year will be an intriguing one to see where the cloud and the open standards approach will be heading. Strap in and enjoy the ride.

About Obsidian Systems Obsidian Systems is an established supplier of Open Source software solutions. The company was started in 1995 as a services provider targeting businesses and organizations looking to integrate and leverage off Linux infrastructure. Obsidian Systems has expanded its knowledge base in partnership with subsidiaries Cape Town based Autumn Leaf and GuruHut.

The days of relying exclusively on proprietary solutions to do this are long gone. Open standards have become part of the approach many organizations take towards implementing technology innovation. And those that have not done so yet, will soon follow as they seek to ﬁnd relevance in an increasingly digital (and connected) world. This will also likely impact the cost of solutions. Using open standards is resulting in products being developed faster as data is analyzed in virtually real-time. Understand what customers want and providing the customization to do so, have become integral to the operating environment today. And the secret to this must be the open source foundation on which this is built.

The expansion of skills is now a formidable team with Java™ expertise aligning our Enterprise Open Source solution for retail, supporting technology and consulting services across enterpriseready open source infrastructure, big data, collaboration and agile IT strategies for your business. Obsidian Systems and its subsidiaries strive to bring three legs to the South African market: the first being vendor-certified products, the second bein g local skills providing consulting, development and support and the third being vendor-certified training and certification. With these three elements, any organization can trust the enterprise open source solution provided.

Local changes The imminent arrival of several international data centers in South Africa (two from Microsoft and one from Amazon Web Services) will have a signiﬁcant positive impact on the local market. This not only shows those skeptical of the cloud that investments are being made, but, more importantly, South Africa is viewed as a platform for growth into the rest of the continent when it comes to the cloud (and open source). The evolving landscape is seeing business requirements also shifting. Next year will see a veritable land rush for position in the cloud environment. More C-suite decision-makers are open to going, well, open, and vendors and service providers are clamoring for market position.

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Big Bang

Big Bang Integrating Tech for the Better Good

n this era of digitalization, we have witnessed unimaginable technological disruptions in various business sectors. We, as humans, have unfolded many technological facets including cloud tech which has brought a revolutionary change in the customary way businesses operate. One of the ﬂag-bearer in leveraging cloud technology to its fullest is Big Bang.

Big Bang’s CEO recognizes the importance of adapting to change, especially when it comes to the technology industry, which is why his approach is, ﬁrst and foremost, to embrace change. Being able to work in an organized chaos and generate results despite the constant disruptiveness is the reason behind Big Bang’s success. The company’s values, teamwork, responsiveness and staying grounded, also play a big role in the CEO’s approach over the industry. These values are reinforced through the company purpose to create tangible value. Big Bang is able to serve customers in several industries because of their goaloriented, results-driven strategy to provide an exceptional service, even if it means having to fail a few times. As Gabriel often says "Try often, fail quickly and when you do, fail forward".

CIO LOOK admires such organizations and appreciates Big Bang’s contribution to the evolution of the technological sector. It is proud to feature Big Bang in its special edition "Companies Leading the Cloud Technology Revolution, 2019." Here is the story behind the inception of Big Bang: . Big Bang is an IT cloud solution consulting firm that helps implement and integrate cloud system(s) from its vast portfolio of products to optimize the efficiency of businesses and provide clarity on their performance. Services range from business systems advisory (BSA), to implementation, to integration along with providing support and training for cloud solutions including: NetSuite (polyvalent financial system), Salesforce CRM (customer relationship management solution), Rootstock ERP (manufacturing oriented financial system), Mavenlink (employee time management system), ServiceNow (for IT companies) and FinancialForce ERP (professional services oriented).

Big Bang’s constant search for best-in-class solutions to offer its customers makes up the biggest part of its contribution in the evolving cloud consulting sector. In fact, Big Bang’s vision is to become the most trusted independent consultant team specializing in business management, collaboration and automation solutions and doing so by proposing and implementing business solutions composed of best of breed products. By centralizing the different business needs and being able to tend to them, Big Bang aims to serve all customers, in all industries, as a one stop shop for all functional and technical needs. Rather than going to see a specialist in one product, who will never be accountable for the

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global solution, Big Bang takes on the responsibility to ensure the scope of work is delivered and the systems recommended can work together to achieve (or surpass) the mandate and growing needs of a business.

services, it is able to offer clients multiple products while staying brand agnostic and only focusing on the business needs and how to solve them, regardless of the brand.

Every new company will go through several types of experiences before understanding the true success factor behind its growth. At Big Bang, the real success factor that shaped the journey of the company and revolutionized the business is the clear definition of roles and career paths along with the addition of departments. At the beginning, even in the organized chaos, it was relatively difficult to deliver the way the company wanted to. There comes a moment in each business leader’s life where they realize they are growing faster than expected and what used to work in the past, does not necessarily work as well today. At Big Bang, the roles are defined as the company grows. A good indicator of where Big Bang is in the company success journey is the organizational structure along with a good understanding of each role within the company, how it aligns with the overall goals, and what responsibilities come with the position. It is also a great way to get the right resources to do the right job and increase the quality of delivery and service based on client requirements. As a service-based company, Big Bang copes with the volatile technological changes in the market by relying on its greatest asset: their resources (i.e. the experienced brains of their consultants)! The training and knowledge sharing at Big Bang differs from other companies. At Big Bang, people are trained to adapt to change and to understand how different systems work. Their versatility in terms of skills, education, expertise and multiple product knowledge allows the company to quickly cope with the constant changes in the industry. Big Bang does not only "cope" with change, it embraces it and relies on it.

One-stop-shop: Big Bang is constantly looking for ways to improve and grow its product portfolio to be able to offer solutions to its clients for all business needs. In doing so, it aims to become a one-stop shop to make its clients’ lives easier and allow them to have accountability on all their system needs.

Being a trusted business advisor, a true partner: Big Bang, acts as an extension of your organization, not as a third party. It is there to ﬁnd solutions to your business needs and takes care of providing all the services related to them- including training its clients so they are able to run their systems autonomously. Whatever the need is, a BPR, a full implementation, etc., Big Bang will accompany its clients throughout the entire journey, from start to ﬁnish.

The company beneﬁts from the volatile technological changes by being ahead of the trend. It is trained to expect and adapt to change which is already a big advantage in the cloud consulting business. By embracing change and sharing high adaptability with its clients, the company is able to create tangible value. Moreover, Big Bang’s efforts at keeping up with recent technological trends allows it to offer its customers more specialized tools as they emerge in the market. Ensuring long lasting relationships with customers is one of Big Bang’s main priorities which is also how helping their clients grow contributes to Big Bang’s success.

Big Bang differentiates itself from competitors in 3 ways: Brand agnostic: at Big Bang, focus is on being able to provide professional services related to cloud systems and make sure customers are beneﬁting from the solution. The client is the company’s number one priority. Because of the focus on

| November2018 |

Role of Businesses in Climate Change

change & are setting a positive example. For example, The International treaty like the Kyto Protocol is allowing energy service companies to conﬁrm that their carbon offsets are having an impact. Let us see some companies which are leading the ﬁght against climate change and taking action seriously.

e all are passionate about the goal that we have to achieve in our lives. And we face challenges in our path, but we ﬁght to overcome those challenges to achieve that goal. But, what about the environmental challenge? This is the biggest challenge our species has ever seen. Some of us are aware of it, while others are not. Nonetheless, climate change is true and it is happening too quickly for many species to adapt.

Unilever- In contrast, most of us might be using Unilever products. The Dutch-British consumer goods company has a multi-faceted approach to combat climate change. By 2030, their goal is 100% use of renewable energy across all its operations. They have already made great headway and their current progress follows:

The impact of climate change has become a national security threat. You might have seen or felt the global average rise in temperature affecting seasons. These changes are also called shifting seasons. The effects of climate change are so devastating that it is likely to be the greatest cause of species extinction this century.

Packaging: Unilever products are packed in eco packs, which opt 70% less plastic and help to reduce greenhouse gases

According to world reports like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), (OECD), (WRI), etc. provide us information on the impacts of climate change. A recent report by IPCC shows Global Warming of 1.5 Degree Celsius. In fact, this is enough to put 20-30% of species at risk of extinction all over the planet. So, for humanitarian and planetary crisis companies of all sizes have to act with urgency to plan to slow down or reverse it.

Agriculture: This promoted Unilever to develop an initiative on sustainable agriculture. They are among the world’s largest users of agriculture raw materials such as tea, vegetables, and vegetable oils. Water: They have made signiﬁcant reductions in the water used for manufacturing. It has reduced the water abstraction by 44% per ton of production as compared to 2008. Energy: Unilever had achieved their 2020 target of reducing carbon emissions from factories by the end of 2016, four years ahead of the schedule. This means that their manufacturing sites have no net impact on carbon levels in the atmosphere.

Companies all around the world have been responsible for 71% of carbon emissions that cause global warming. This comes from energy sector companies who are dedicated to the extraction of fossil fuels. So if, the companies continue to extract fossil fuels at the rate they have been doing it is estimated by the scientists that the global average temperature will rise by 4 Degree Celsius. Here the question arises. Can global companies be a part of the solution? Rather than part of the problem?

Waste: They have achieved the target of sending zero non-hazardous waste to landﬁll from factories in 2014, six years ahead of schedule.

Companies can take a stand by reducing carbon emissions, making a climate action plan, and supporting policies that advance climate change severity. While some international organizations and companies are coming together to form treaties to combat climate

Formed partnerships: Currently partnered organizations with World Business Council for Sustainable Development, World Economic Forum, Consumer Goods Forum, United Nations Global Impact, Global Commission on the Economy and

| November2018 |

Editor’s Desk

Climate, Corporate Leaders Group on Climate and Business for Innovation Climate and Energy Policy. Apart from this, they also make consumers aware of the effects of climate change and guide ways to reduce carbon footprint.

And, the biggest drivers are the cultivation of soya and palm oil. The Swiss-based company is the largest food producer on the planet, address challenges to deforestation. In 2010, the mega food company already made a commitment of ’no deforestation’ by 2020. Rising consumer demand for palm oil products results in clearing forests. To combat this situation, they have started by understanding where the palm oil comes from and how it is produced. And, to provide a clear, real-time view of emerging issues they have pioneered with satellite-based service. The satellites will monitor 100% of global palm oil supply chains from 2019. The program will be to ensure no deforestation is taking place in its supply chain. The level of commitment is seen by blacklisting supply chain companies which do not follow its policies.

Tesla- The electric car making company tops the list when it comes to zero carbon emissions from its products. The owner Elon Musk proposes to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. Yet, unlike other companies, Telsa’s management in terms of climate change is opaque. Because, there is other electric cars company which gives a very clear approach to climate change. Other companies like Dailmer, FiatChrysler, Renault, Toyota, and Volkswagen have also performed well and achieved ’A’ list in CDP climate change program. Ikea- the Swedish-based world’s largest furniture retailer has shown a positive impact on the world’s climate. It aims to reduce more greenhouse gases and the company’s goal is to purchase 100% renewable energy by 2020. It plans to use only renewable and recycled materials in its products by the same year. In fact, the furniture giant has invested 1.7 billion into renewable energy projects. And, have already installed 750,000 solar panels on Ikea buildings. Ikea has also said that it will ban single-use plastic products from its shops and restaurants and making it’s home deliveries zero emission by 2025.

Patagonia- Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company and is in the business to save our planet. It was started by a band of climbers and surfers in California. They make clothes with organic cotton, hemp, and recycled nylon & polyester. Their goal is to reduce adverse and environmental impact by the materials used to make the products. Overall, companies can surely be a part of the solution to reduce carbon footprint. They have to take a proactive stance against climate change. Their goal should be to make life better and more sustainable by converting to 100% renewable in their production. After all, it is about the future of our planet where people live.

Nestle- Deforestation accounts for 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions. It means every minute rainforest of the size of 50 football ﬁelds is destroyed.

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‘‘

We are proud to be part of the cloud technology evolution while fulﬁlling an important role in protecting the critical cloud infrastructure of the Federal government. Dana Taylor Director

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IT-CNP, Inc.

igration to the cloud, and the underlying security issues surrounding it, has long been a difﬁcult process for federal agencies, contributing to a slow-moving cloud migration process. Government systems, in particular, face new persistent threats from malicious attackers and hackers, interconnectivity issues, hardware hang-ups, natural disasters, and basic human errors. Protecting government systems in the cloud is a tough task, requiring assurance that cloud providers are adept in handling sensitive government data, new budgetary constraints and evolving waves of new regulatory changes.

transition from physical to virtual servers, implementation of government-specific cloud models, and adoption of artificial intelligence as part of daily technical and security service delivery. GovDataHosting received its initial FedRAMP Moderate Impact authorization in 2015, and recently upgraded to a FedRAMP High Impact authorization. According to the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 199, sensitive data is categorized as “High Impact” when its potential unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized modification, or disruption could cause severe or catastrophic adverse effects or damage to organizational assets, organizational operations, or to individuals.

Every government agency can use some degree of help directly from government cloud service providers that specialize in government network and data protection. The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. FedRAMP is making cloud adoption more appealing, boosting conﬁdence among government stakeholders that their sensitive information is protected in the cloud.

Comprehensive Services The key to GovDataHosting success is comprised of its FedRAMP High Impact authorized Infrastructure-as-aService offering, combined with a comprehensive selection of cloud support services. GovDataHosting’s full-service cloud management bundles include the following four main components: FedRAMP Cloud IaaS - FedRAMP High Impact authorized cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) enables lower computing infrastructure costs. Ÿ SECaaS - Full spectrum Security-as-a-Service (SECaaS) compliance results in expedited system Authorization to Operate (ATO) and continuous monitoring. Ÿ DRaaS - Robust Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) delivered across 3 cloud zones with ﬂexible Recovery Time Objective/Recovery Point Objective (RTO/RPO) options provide protection in case a disaster strikes. Ÿ ASaaS - U.S. based Application-Support-as-aService (ASaaS) team provides comprehensive Ÿ

Since its foundation in 2001, IT-CNP, Inc. has been delivering secure network infrastructure, hosting and cyber security services exclusively for federal agencies. An expert in advanced enterprise network security, ITCNP’s solution architects have been providing on-site support for federal agencies through 2004 when ITCNP’s GovDataHosting division was formed to offer off-site datacenter hosting and managed security services for federal agencies. Leading the Innovation Since 2004, GovDataHosting has been a part of the leading edge of technology innovations including the

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application support for Microsoft, Red Hat, Oracle, Drupal open source and other custom-built applications with robust SLAs. A Proficient Leader Dana Taylor has extensive experience in leadership, strategic planning and management consulting. She arrived as Director of Cloud and Compliance Solutions at GovDataHosting in 2018. According to Ms. Taylor, “IT-CNP’s GovDataHosting Cloud Platform is currently one of only five FedRAMP High Impact authorized cloud IaaS providers serving the government market. We are very proud of this accomplishment.” She added,“Due to shrinking budgets, government officials are always looking for opportunities to reduce their operational costs. GovDataHosting bundled solutions achieve that goal for them. Acquiring cloud infrastructure, security compliance, disaster recovery and technical support together, from a single provider, allows for tremendous service delivery efficiency and therefore results in cost reduction. We pass this on to our government customers.” Ms. Taylor believes the concept of acquiring government cloud infrastructure, and associated security compliance services in a bundle, resonates well with many

government stakeholders that require continuous focus and attention on their primary mission. The GovDataHosting team prevents these executives from diluting their resources and time trying to put together the right pieces in the cloud migration and system security compliance puzzle on their own. Uniﬁed Security Offerings GovDataHosting has a solution for every government cloud hosting requirement independent of system size or purpose. The GovDataHosting Community Cloud offering serves as a federal government-dedicated multi-tenant community reserved for federal agencies and government contractors to access virtualized cloud computing resources. Agencies with higher level security requirements are setup into private cloud environments that ensure dedicated virtualized cloud infrastructure supporting highly intensive or sensitive workloads. GovDataHosting services are currently utilized by multiple federal agencies across the government, including DoD, DHS, VA, HHS, GSA and others. Recently while transitioning a major Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data warehouse, IT-

CNP’s GovDataHosting division provided the requisite security compliance services to ensure adherence to rigorous HHS FISMA and HIPAA security standards during their transition to the GovDataHosting Cloud Platform environment. Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI) were subsequently documented, assessed and protected in accordance with HHS agency standards to obtain an Authorization To Operate (ATO). HHS headquarters also recently awarded a contract to IT-CNP to provide cloud capabilities with associated technical and information assurance support services. To help the federal government vendor community, GovDataHosting offers a comprehensive FedRAMP SaaS Connect program that enables a cost-effective path to obtain a FedRAMP Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) certification for government software application providers. With services available on a number of government contract vehicles, including GSA Schedule 70, HHS NGITS Application Hosting BPA and the DoD ACCENT program, IT-CNP has carved out a niche in the government cloud industry by offering a 100% infrastructure availability SLA and outstanding customer satisfaction. GovDataHosting’s service design team is always working on new ways to introduce automation and artificial intelligence decision making capabilities into its services, constantly improving performance and finding new ways to lower customer costs.

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Should

is to provide decentralized solution and distributed ledger technology for financial market infrastructures. Although this does not mean that these countries will opt for full-fledged Blockchain, further analysis of the safety and efficiency of this technology is needed.

Businesses

One of the most interesting and misunderstood concepts in Blockchain technology is transparency, some say it gives you privacy while according to few it is transparent. However, this leads to some confusion about how privacy and transparency can effectively coexist. In this article we will clear how Blockchain balances the two concepts.

Adopt

Blockchain C

Technology?

entralized systems have treated us well for many years, but if we see the vulnerabilities: money and data is stored in one spot, this makes easy target for malicious activity. What if central banks shut downs or goes through software upgrade for whatever reason? It may halt the entire system and nobody will be able to access the information it possesses. Companies are starting to work with Blockchain technology; some of them are using it in the ﬁnancial sector while others are trying to improve their bureaucratic systems.

The identity of a user is concealed behind powerful cryptography (encrypting and decrypting), meaning that linking public addresses to private users is difﬁcult to achieve. Transparency of Blockchain comes from the fact that the holdings and transactions of each public address are open for viewing. It is possible through Explorer, an online block chain browser which displays the content of individual Bitcoin blocks, transactions and balances of addresses. Cryptocurrency and Blockchain are still relatively new technology; companies are likely to pick up the right Blockchain technology for the business. Blockchain companies: Steem is like YouTube on Blockchain and has attracted over 920,000 users who publish more than 1.5 million posts each month. Steem has also paid over $40 million in its digital asset via (cryptocurrency rewards) to content creators. Ripple, Intellectsoft, and Celsius Network, are some of the companies today, assured for success and will be popular soon. With the emergence of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin,

Countries like Singapore, China, Canada, etc. are trying to offer a national digital currency based on Blockchain technology and supporting the initiative. The intention

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Secure Vision Blockchain technology is disrupting almost all markets, changing the way we do our day to day business. Bitcoins are digital coins you can send through the internet, its software is completely open source and you can trade your currency exchanges with dollars, euros and more. It’s very much still an experimental currency and a high risk for consumers and investors, but the Bitcoin design has been the inspiration for various other applications. Effectiveness of Blockchain technology in the following areas in future: Smart Contracts- The most critical area where Blockchain helps is to guarantee the validity of a transaction through secure validation mechanism. Contract is where consent of the parties is involved to agree and interact with each other. Industries and institutions are heavily reliant on contracts, such as insurance, ﬁnancial institutions, real estate, construction, entertainment and law. A smart contract can formalize the relationships between people, institutions and the assets they own. They eliminate the need for trusted third parties and are self-verifying, self-executing and Tamper resistant. A smart contract is like a cryptographic box that contains value and only unlocks if certain conditions are met. Once involved authorities and companies are on a Blockchain, a smart contract could be used to deﬁne the rules of a valid deal. Supply chain management- A Blockchain is a digitalized, decentralized and incorruptible public ledger that can transform supply chains, industries and ecosystems. The following applications are now in use or can be implemented in supply chain using Blockchain technology:

Automotive supplier payments- It is exciting to see cryptocurrency in the automotive industry. There are also suppliers and websites available for buying and selling cars with Bitcoin, which allows transfer of funds anywhere in the world without the need for traditional banking transactions, as transactions are made directly between payer and payee. It is also secure and rapid, transfers also incur lower fees. However, buying a car from a random individual is considered a bit risky. Food Traceability- Satoshi Nakamoto, inventor of Blockchain technology aimed in creating decentralized ledger leaving behind open source software that the users would be able to update and improve. Companies can use distributed ledger systems to record product status at each stage of production. As the records are permanent and immutable, they make it possible to trace each product to its source. Food volumes such as coffee, tea, oils, sugar and beans are almost impossible to track. Blockchain technology enables the tracking of food packages, by a unique identiﬁer such as barcode, QR code or RFID transmitter. The beneﬁt from using Blockchain is that no central party needs to be trusted in order to overlook the data, while still allowing volumes to be transparent for everyone in the chain. An area of concern within the food industry is that many food products are small and inexpensive; there is a risk that tracking of every package and seed can become expensive. Blockchain enables integration of simple hardware and cheap software and is ideally suited for managing the process. Supply chains have already started using Blockchain in some areas of their operations like electric power

micro grids and cold chain monitoring. However, transformation of supply chains will not happen overnight, new doors may open to faster more intelligent and more secure process throughout the entire supply chain. Criticisms and challenges: Huge electricity requiredRemember all the power required to verify transactions demand electricity. In order to unleash the power of Blockchain technology, computer scientists need to solve this big problem. Security about the private keyPrivate Key must remain secret at all times because revealing it to the third parties is same as giving them controls over Bitcoins secured by that key. Also the key must be backed up and protected from accidental loss, because if it is lost it cannot be recovered and the funds secured by it are forever lost, too. Extremely volatile- Decentralized Blockchain technology and virtual currencies are extremely new to the market. Fluctuating prices of Bitcoin vary from day to day because companies, investors, and governments adopting or not adopting them greatly affect the volatility. Blockchain will be an important part of our ﬁnancial and technological digital future. It is one of the incredibly creative inventions that technology has ever seen. So how we use it is up to us. Some companies such as Overstock.com and Telsa have already started accepting virtual currencies. However, it is still not apparent what the retail leaders like Amazon and eBay would do with the cryptocurrency acceptance. But if they start accepting then it could indeed transform the global scenario.

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The Go to Partner for All IT Business Solutions

ince the time, Nippon Data Systems Ltd was established in 1994, the company has built a solid foundation of success on which it continues to grow. The organisation specializes in solving business problems by harnessing technology and applying them for developing and implementing customized and standard information systems. Under the Nippon Data's resource umbrella is a team of highly skilled IT professionals with expertise in Software Development, Domain, Business Process re-engineering, Strategy Planning, Downsizing, Rapid Application Development, Object Oriented Approach, Business Intelligence Internet and Mobile Technologies, Infrastructure Management and more. Over the years, its team of professionals have encountered and conquered complex problems relating to various business needs. Nippon Data has invested several thousands of man years of effort in bring NEWTON Enterprise Resource Planning suite of software applications.

Newton Case & Compliance Management Fintech Solutions SIMPPLIFY (Complete Vendor Network Management System) Ÿ Licensing (Eg: Microsoft, Oracle, Adobe, Etc). Ÿ Cloud Solutions (Eg: IAAS, PAAS, SAAS) Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Nippon Data with the most professional and advanced resources, bring the most satisfactory outcomes for their client’s business. They make sure that through their solutions; customers can get one-stop industry solution effortlessly and are capable of tackling IT related issues in the best possible manner. Its R&D section transforms the product onto latest technologies which are modular in nature, faster and easy to maintain. Proficient Leaders Harish Saraf, CEO & Founder of Nippon Data, has more than 25 years of experience in consulting is a B. Tech in Computer Science and is a gold medal holder for his efficiency in his academia. He came back to India from the US to establish Nippon Data Systems with an objective to provide Business Software solutions and IT Consulting to its customers and serve as a one-stop shop for all their IT requirements. “Being an ERP company, Nippon Data Systems understands its customers’ needs from a much larger perspective which has endowed us with a distinct competitive advantage,” affirms Harish Saraf, CEO, Nippon Data Systems.

Pack of Advance Technologies Nippon Data is a provider of IT enabled business solutions which provide its clients competitive business advantage. The company partners with its customers to deliver business solutions to their satisfaction and help them ‘Live Your Enterprise Potential. We take pride in conducting business with the highest degree of ethics and treat each transaction with fairness and honesty Client satisfaction is our ONLY measure of success. Following are Some of its Industry Speciﬁc Solutions which include Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ashish Saraf, Director of Nippon Data, is an MBA Finance has over 20 years of experience in consulting. He has been a part of leading client’s implementation. He envisioned the corporation as a high-tech performer. He has the vision to make Nippon the

Newton ERP Newton CRM Newton BPM Newton SCM

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Nippon Data Systems Ltd.

Every customer is unique and they all should include IT in their journey and beat the competition with technology.

Harish Saraf Founder & CEO

| November2018 |

Ashish Saraf Director

Despite of cut-throat competition, Nippon Data is doing very well in India and now expanding to other parts of the world. It is handling largest Govt. project for Skilling India. Auto mobile company with more than 120 locations running live on the company’s ERP Software. Ÿ It has also implemented University Management Software for Africa’s largest university. Ÿ Ÿ

Achieving New Heights Everyday The company also listed in 25 Most Trusted ERP & CRM solution providers in India, The 10 best Enterprise CRM Solution providers, Award for Asia’s Pacific’s 25 most promising ERP Solution Providers, The 10 Most Innovative Tech Companies to watch and The 10 Fastest Growing ERP Solution Providers. Value Added Services Today’s technology is constantly changing, forcing businesses to seek versatile employees with specialized skills, experience, and certifications Nippon Data can fill almost any requirement, including the following areas: Engineering, Research & Development, Design, drafting & CAD Technicians etc. According to the company “With considerable experience of delivering services and industry specific expertise, our value-added consultations help you find the right answer to your business challenge”. It possesses deep seated capabilities to scale up services in accordance with changing requirements, ensuring the continuity and ontime completion of Services.

leading solutions provider. Implemented an energetic and innovative approach in conducting the business. Ashish asserts, “We have the best technical, marketing and process teams that are balanced and also work together to deliver best and complete solutions in all aspects and perspectives such as functionality, business process and technology as well”. Serving with Excellency As an evolving company in the same sector, Nippon Data’s ﬁrst contribution/priority is providing the customer one-stop shop for all their IT requirements and make them aware about the real good and services provided by an IT company. The Management and team together have built up a platform for common people who can’t afford to have infra in their premises and looking for a quick and easy pay as per use model. In this model Nippon Data will provide infra on cloud and will manage it with support and maintenance. Additionally, customers in the market are so price conscious that their main focus is pricing without actually understanding the stability of the vendor, depth of the product, post- sales support, product roadmap etc. The competition quotes any prices to take the business and this is one of the biggest challenges faced while providing services.

Unique Approach The unique footsteps of Nippon Data are use in technical expertise and partner with their customers to deliver business solutions to their satisfaction and assist them in realizing their full potential. It shall strive to conduct business with the highest degree of ethics and treat each transaction with fairness and honesty and be among the top ﬁve preferred solution providers in the market. Nippon Data also wants to create an amicable working environment which respects and encourages innovation and helps employees look at Nippon Data systems as a long-term employer.

| November2018 |

SoftClouds LLC Predicting the Future of CRM!

ustomer Experience (CX) is a very important aspect in almost every business. As maintaining a comprehensive relationship with customers has often become a need rather than just a want, many businesses prefer to lean towards reliable CRM Solution Providers.

HealthCare; Manufacturing to Automotive. Its experts thrive on invention and deliver next generation solutions that optimize your customer experiences. This has made SoftClouds to become a trusted business advisor and recommend CRM/CX solutions that best ﬁt your business. "With over 14 years of experience providing customized architectural solutions and our status as an Oracle Platinum Partner, we know how to take your CX to the next level!" says t h e Fo u n d e r a n d C E O o f S o f t C l o u d s , B a l a j i Ramachandran.

Meet SoftClouds, a leading technology solutions and digital transformation company that thrives in delivering exceptional and successful CX enterprise and global level solutions. Its modern solutions perfectly blend Oracle Technologies and Specialist Expertise to deliver sophisticated innovation. Its expertise, global alliances and end-to-end services have helped the company in redeﬁning business models for various clients.

We Fall Together; We Win Together SoftClouds cannot be deﬁned with any one management style. Through quoting—"We preach innovation, empowerment, and aspiration at SoftClouds", the company states that it has created an environment of continual learning that lets its teams learn & grow. Their employees, a.k.a SoftCloudians are empowered to take risks even if it means to take a fall, believing that there is no single fall and single win; rather it’s a collective approach.

The Story Behind SoftClouds Being a leader in technology solutions for digital transformation—SoftClouds is at the forefront of Innovation and Customer Experience transformation in the evolving world of technology. Its solutions are designed to make your company’s products, experiences and interactions personalized to the needs and lives of your customers. Teams at SoftClouds focus on understanding what you and your customers need and then align the needs with the right solutions to fulﬁl them.

’Employee ﬁrst’ mantra is the big drive for SoftClouds to attain success. With this cultural pillar, its employees are always addressed and considered in every decision of the company. The company’s work-life balance and personal life means more than the commitments made to themselves.

The company claims, since its inception in 2005, it has grown as one of the Most Successful Companies in America. It has marked its space in the Inc. 5000 list of the Fastest Growing Private Companies in the US, three times in a row. The company has expertise in various industry verticals and provides a broad coverage of solutions that cater towards speciﬁc industries. Moreover, it has deployed technology solutions across a wide spectrum of industries from Transportation to

As a team, SoftClouds addresses their contribution made to the IT & Cloud sector by simply stating, "Customer experience is quickly moving towards personalization and customer delight. Newer trends and technologies like CRM, IoT, AI and cloud-based solutions are shaping up the future of things to come. Our Innovation teams are ready for being a part of this signiﬁcant change and contributing to the growing IT sector."

| November2018 |

So Clouds LLC

“Volatility is inevitable but staying ahead is the key.” — Balaji Ramachandran 31

| November2018 |

It also states that the teams are passionate about building innovative products and solutions that can transform businesses. SoftClouds recently launched a product—Qupplet, a natural language-based search engine for Siebel. "Currently being deployed at one of the biggest automotive companies, it is a dream come true for us and their Siebel users," mentions SoftCloudians.

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Great companies might not build great culture, but great culture will always build a great company.

I n a d d i t i o n , i t h a s a l s o d e l i ve r e d m a ny m o r e transformative solutions that have helped businesses ﬁnd the best and most intelligent ways to achieve their goals.

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Through Experiences one Evolves "It has been an incredible journey so far and since we are forward looking, we think of everyday as a new lesson to be learnt and experienced," states SoftClouds. Customer Feedback has been a guiding light for the company right from the time when it was a 5-person company to a 150 people company, today. Its achievements and success have provided it with the conﬁdence to build more and more solutions and innovation in products/architectures. The company always took its learnings and failures as direction towards betterment and improved quality experiences. Although it is important to focus on targets, but company believes that it is much more important to understand the customers and end users. Their teams always make sure that their customers are happy with CRM/CX and user feedback and the quality of the solution. This has helped them in getting repeat business wherever they go.

SoftClouds was founded with the aim of "Redeﬁning C u s t o m e r E x p e r i e n c e" a n d by f a r, e a c h o f i t s implementation speaks of the same. Its team strives to always go the extra mile to make the life of its customers and end users easier and simpler. The company also makes sure to provide technologically advanced solutions to its customers with optimal efﬁciency and future-proof to remain ahead of the curve. Glimpse of SoftClouds’s Future "We have a passionate team of people, we believe in continuous improvement, and with our experts, we are ready for the future," the company conveys. There are many elite players in the market who might offer technological solutions as needed, however, SoftClouds has the blend of technology and innovation that brings its customers to best of both worlds for its clients.

Embracing Tech for Optimal Efﬁciency At SoftClouds, employees acknowledge technological changes and try to stay ahead of the curve. They are always ready for moulding the upcoming future dilemmas and changes in their beneﬁt. While competition is unaware and incapable of tackling the technology and industry changes/challenges, the company invests its time and resources in learning latest technologies, in other words, offering best out of best solutions. It specializes in catering to the needs of the customers and the end users.

The products and solutions delivered by SoftClouds has always received excellent reviews from clients from a wide spectrum of industries.

| November2018 |

The Fuss about AI I

need to start looking at ways to incorporate new technologies I mean it.

have been a strong advocate of conversational technology (VoiceTech/NLP) and AI and have pitched for it in various conferences, Guest Lectures at leading business institutes and to corporates and I am often being asked what will happen to our jobs? So this is true that Artiﬁcial intelligence seems like a big untameable monsters to most, and everyone is little anxious about future.

For enterprises there are certain imminent crisis that demand that they change rapidly and market is not at all as forgiving as it was a few decades back, someone is constantly rooting for you to make a mistake.This is leading enterprise to transform under the integrated environment of Digital Transformation Voice Technology has lately become a stable AI process and would completely change the way we interact with technology in the future. Visualization will remain at the heart of it however with conversational technology, we can expect a shift to more verbal ads, like radio, but more personalized and actionable, but still to make a decision on which product to buy you would want to see it visually. Also search will become more speciﬁc and hyperlocal, where we will be prompted to give verbal feedbacks, that would amount to popularity of products and places, how it happens with mobile applications today.

And that could be true sitting in 2010, but past few years new old research and young progressive companies and devision of enterprises are willing to make it their sole purpose that the infuse digital transformation in their company and provide assistance to others. But, with the prevailing reputation that comes at a cost of educating everyone, really everyone. They see it as a risk and any have burnt their hands trying to tame novice early stage AI models. But thats fine, thats how we grow. I believe that we are intellectual beings with curious minds, why would we want to do repeatable jobs which machines can do with greater efficiency. We can delegate these chores and teach the machines to help us better and imitate human decision making, innovate at personal level and “Democratise Artificial Intelligence”.

Siri, Cortana, Alexa have brought conversation technology to people for some time now. They come bundled up with smart phones and can be used to do basic searches, to look up certain things, cue up songs etc. Speech technology has come much further than that. With its advancement we can now control our oven, tv and other house hold devices, can search complex data from cloud or can make phone calls for ourselves. It can change the way we function in our daily lives, our time with our family, services we receive and the jobs we do. It can eliminate learning curve of devices, repeatable chores, and compiling excel sheets. And it will not happen eventually, it’s happening now.

Democratising AI through platforms for like voice technology - Natural Language processing so the technical algorithms can stay with speciﬁc user base while use of the AI algorithms can be made as simple as conversing with machines. Thats a sure shot way to upskilling resources for example: Team of Analysts can train dashboards and Business Intelligence tools to map business KPIs and generate Compelling Business Stories and Insights in natural language for everyone in the organisation to beneﬁt from, and then keep building the training over it through machine learning. We are personally running trials with Fortune 50 companies on this, so when I say you

Developers will innovate to create more audio centric user interface, there will be discovery period for them to ﬁnd out how to minimally prompt user to give inputs and implement voice modulated visual commands. We can see

| November2018 |

Preksha Kaparwan

About the Author Preksha Kaparwan is the Co-founder, CMO, V.UX Designer of Realbox.AI . The versatile IHM Pusa graduate initially served as the chef but got inclined towards technology and business analytics and founded RealBox in 2015. Within three years of its inception, they have raised $300k for Realbox and, their customers include fortune 50 and big 4 enterprises. As a thought leader she has been part of TEDTalk talk shows. She was awarded 'The sparks 2018' by your story for tech services for her exceptional contribution as a Tech Evangelist.

speech approaching a point where it would become so reliable that we can just use it, like how we do it with other humans, and not even think about it. I am personally inspired to bring acceptance for conversational technology globally and I believe that the real success for this would not be when big corporations and industries would be using it but when every small and medium business and every household would be using it and help us to get a hold of our receding grip on reality from visually attractive and distracting screens on our tv, on out laptops and our smart phones.

Preksha Kaparwan Co-Founder & CMO RealBox Data Analytics Private Limited

We have seen this kind of a shift with automated technologies and processes which has led to reduced laborious work, efďŹ ciency increased and averted accidents. Smart phones brought technologies closer to the end user. So, I took side with ArtiďŹ cial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies, that will aid seamlessly while co-existing in our realities. And impact is not just on us in our personal capacity but for businesses too and professionals who spend endless nights collating data and make pretty ppts to show to the bosses. I believe that spreading the word on changing technological demography is not our responsibility or our burden. But you know why I make it my purpose?? Because it is a major step in evolution of technology and I know we need to harness it, shape it now, before someone else does it for you.

| November2018 |

Alfonsus Bram Founder & CEO

ViBiCloud Your Trusted Technology Partner to Accelerate Your Cloud Economics Journey

| November2018 |

ViBiCloud (PT. Awan Integrasi Sandidata)

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A hundred of clients choose us, because TRUST is our ACTION.

| November2018 |

ver since the digitization came into the picture, the integration of new technological advancements in the businesses has substantially rose. Though, various organizations are gaining beneﬁts from such upgradations yet, many are still striving to attain a successful stature. Markets are ﬁlled with various IT solution providers, but only few proved to be trustworthy and reliable to dwell on.

MODEL. It help its customer based on how it can bring the business impact to them. It does assessment, discussion, join planning session, and create the IT blueprint together. Being a leading Cloud Solution Provider in Indonesia, it has so many experiences in various industries especially in Financial Industries. Together with Microsoft and HPE Pointnext, it delivers an “end to end solutions”. At ViBiCloud, the team has an expertise not just in Cloud, but also have an expertise in network. Also it has a dedicated team for helping customers who need legal and security consultation to make sure the solution is secure and comply with regulations. With such experiences, the company believes with its solution it can help so many industries to comply with the Government Regulation No.82 and expand their business in Indonesia.

Meet ViBiCloud—a IT service company, that offers impeccable Cloud Computing solutions to businesses to help them run well and bloom with time. It is the single Cloud Service Provider in Indonesia which uses Microsoft Azure Platform. It’s more than just a company rather it is a set of future tech plan, values to serves, positive attributes and powerful brands that beautifully reﬂects the spirit of the company. Driven by the passion to help business simplify and strengthen their works, it believes in its core values which guides customers’ business and deliver the best solutions. CIO LOOK appreciates such organization’s contribution and feels pride in featuring ViBiCloud in its special edition, “Companies Leading the Cloud Technology Revolution, 2019.”

ViBiCloud is a company of young people who have a motivation, vision and mission to bring the latest technology to the customers. Like its CEO said before, ﬂexibility is the key, so the company is too hungry to learn in new technology and analyse what market’s need. Now, it has a basic solution like IaaS in its datacentre, and add features such as monitoring and security tools to the customer, so they can see the report about their application or server.

Below is its story: ViBiCloud is an IT service company which is driven by the passion to help businesses to simplify and strengthen their works. As a Cloud Solution Provider in Indonesia, it reinforce its passion and commitment in providing end-to-end solutions and whole services in the purpose of making the business work efﬁcient and have great growth. The company exploit the agility of cloud services, ensure business continuity with BCDR services, managed cloud services, managed security services, and everything as a service.

While exemplifying its strategy, the company states that two basic principles it follows to stand out of the competition, which are; CLOUD ECONOMIC JOURNEY: It helps its customer with this approaching model, so they can have a journey start from assessment to a fast growing. The point is, it always suggest to its customer to pay only what they need and use. So it’s a good experience for customers.

ViBiCloud was founded in 2014, and has doubled its clients growth every year. In 2017, it got 25 Most Promising CSP from APAC CIO Outlook and launched hybrid cloud using Microsoft technology, Azure Stack. With a great strategy, it can achieve 1375% growth public cloud and became 2019 Microsoft Country Partner of The Year in Indonesia.

Flexibility is the key: Customers in Indonesia somehow have very unique requirements based on their condition. So what the company does is to have a basic solution, and does some customization to make sure this is the best solution for its customers.

Its management change the focus in ViBiCloud from Cloud Service Provider to Cloud Solution Provider. And, helps customers using agile method, so not just give a lift and shift or hit and run business model rather it creates and offers CLOUD ECONOMIC JOURNEY

| November2018 |

Francois de Bodinat CMO ZeroLight

Pioneering a New Era in the Digitisation of Customer Experiences 40

| November2018 |

ven though the automotive retail sector has been using real-time visualization solutions for several years, OEMs still struggle to balance performance, quality, and scalability. In identifying this gap in the market, ZeroLight has worked to provide high end solutions that do not compromise on any front. Established in Newcastle in 2014, ZeroLight provides cloud-based solutions that enhance every stage of the automotive sales and marketing visualization experience. Its offering consists of real-time configurators for online and retail as well as an easy-to-use production platform for the creation of pictures, videos and interactive media. Designed for scale and efficiency, its solutions are cloud-based, agile tools that enable OEMs to increase speed to market whilst driving user engagement, higher specification sales and lower content production costs. ZeroLight has expanded to become a multi-award winning, international company, with offices in the UK, China, the US, and Germany. This global mindset is reflected in its work as it has undertaken numerous projects with many of the biggest companies in the automotive industry such as Audi, Lamborghini, Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Porsche, Pagani and Cadillac and its solutions are currently being used by millions of car buyers around the world. ZeroLight’s DNA evolved three years ago when the company launched its first real-time, cloud-based configurator on Audi’s website. The success of this project confirmed that cloud visualisation is the future of sales and marketing experiences. The company is pioneering a new era in the digitisation of customer experiences within the automotive industry and beyond. Its DNA has moved from "visualisation for marketing and sales" to "cloud-based visualisation for marketing and sales". This is a unique and very scalable value proposition that opens the door to delivering content and experiences that

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Our core mission is to move the marketing and sales visualisation experience and content production from a traditional PC-based industry to a more scalable, agile, and efﬁcient worldwide cloud platform.

| November2018 |

positively impacts upon sales figures throughout the entire customer journey, from advertising to retail. With this approach, it is becoming a revenue centre rather than a cost centre in the eyes of its customers. Once again, technology with purpose. ZeroLight’s vital contribution to the automotive industry lies in the use of the cloud to reinvent and personalize at scale the automotive buying journey. The company’s solutions have a proven track record of performance at the highest possible quality, regardless of the medium. Whether it’s virtual reality, ultra-highresolution screens, or other dealership-specific sensorial experiences, its technology has consistently increased engagement, upsells and conversions for brands including Audi, Pagani, Toyota, BMW, Nissan and Cadillac. It is important to note that the current point-of-sale experiences still relies on physical PCs to deliver realtime content to each medium. This constraint not only brings complexity to the retail world in terms of deployment and maintenance, but also increases the total cost of ownership of the solution, whilst reaching only a limited number of customers. The traditional method of delivering a configuration experience online is to pre-produce a huge number of images that customers can browse on their device. This reduces speed to market and brings a significant compromise in customer interactivity and engagement compared to the dealership experiences. To address this, ZeroLight has developed a unique way to use realtime cloud-based rendering to replicate and deliver its award-winning dealership experiences to any customer, on any device, anywhere. After successful rollouts with both Audi and Lamborghini, it is the only company to have deployed this technology

| November2018 |

ZeroLight worldwide, in partnership with Amazon Web Services. "Results of its online Audi conﬁgurator have shown a 66% increase in user engagement, a 9% increase in feature selection and a €1,200 average upsell when compared to the traditional method.”

company exclusive access and support to their new or upcoming cloud services. ZeroLight also works closely with many hardware manufacturers to receive development kit models of VR and AR headsets and pre-release graphics cards. This allows it to remain the preferred contact for partners when they need to test or deliver a world-class automotive solution on their new piece of hardware or software.

Its cloud-based platform also enables the company to overcome the point-of-sale hardware hurdle. ZeroLight is now streaming high-end real-time conﬁgurators into Lamborghini dealerships directly from the cloud, thus avoiding the pain point of hardware installation and maintenance. It is also working with leading network companies to bring fully cloud based wireless virtual reality experiences to the retail world, making the dealership much less dependent upon high-end hardware.

Strategically, the volatility of technology also creates great opportunities for the company. The way it structures its value proposition to its customers is more and more technology agnostic; it focusses instead on end-to-end solutions. For instance, ZeroLight’s cloudbased platform, SpotLight™, allows OEMs to produce a massive amount of media content like pictures or videos of their cars. The underlying technology behind SpotLight is constantly evolving, but it does so in a way that beneﬁts its overarching platform, making it more robust, faster, cheaper and, overall, better.

Finally, its cloud technology is at the heart of its SpotLight™ platform which democratises the creation and production of digital content and media for use across advertising, digital signage, and any other customer-related social channels. This opens the door to a new type of interactive and ultra-personalised advertising content that would have otherwise been too expensive to produce with traditional agency-like approaches.

ZeroLight’s dialogue with its customers remains focused on the challenges they are facing, on the content they need to produce and the context in which they need it, rather than the speciﬁc methods and technologies at stake. A software analogy for this could be that its solutions are like APIs that deliver a dedicated service or product. The code that implements those APIs – the technology – keeps on evolving, but the customer always sees the same APIs, so they beneﬁt from every advancement without worrying about code changes.

When it comes to technology volatility, the company’s priority is to hire and retain the best possible people. It has a great team of highly skilled engineers and artists who not only keep up with advancements in technology, but are also capable of identifying, early on, those that will actually beneﬁt it as a company. Navigating through the maze of constant advancements in software, services, and hardware requires the ability to steer in one clear direction and understand if and how each new piece could either beneﬁt or distract the company. ZeroLight’s expert team is pivotal for it to do this successfully.

ZeroLight stays true to its ethos and remain prepared to challenge the status quo or existing business models in order to constantly innovate with new and purposeful solutions. It is not afraid to dare. For instance, when it deployed its new, cloud-based solution with Audi, it put in place an analytics platform to track the user from their website to purchasing a car in a dealership. This allowed the company to tie its revenue to the measurable ﬁnancial success of its solution. Its competitive advantage also resides in its customer centricity. For example, whenever the company is approached to help a customer go paperless with its product brochures, not only does it work to deliver the best digital assets, but it also strives to bring unique features of a cloud-based solution such as increased interactivity and on-demand personalisation. This creates a win-win dynamic with its customers who understand that ZeroLight will always provide a scalable and robust solution that is, above all, innovative.

One of the driving forces behind ZeroLight is its CMO, Francois de Bodinat. The cross functional and diverse experiences afforded to him through his roles as software engineer to sales director, and from start-up founder to blue-chip companies’ such as Amazon, has enabled him to gain invaluable insights into the commonly challenges that many young tech companies face. This expertise is crucial to fulﬁl his current mission as Chief Marketing Ofﬁcer, which involves productizing ZeroLight’s technologies, services and concepts into a competitive and scalable portfolio to solve key market issues. Secondly, the company maintains a close relationship with its partners. It became an Advanced Technology Partner with AWS, for instance, which gives the

| November2018 |